Pittsburgh Pirates - The World War I Era (1910-1919)

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1910

1913

1917

103

Decade

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Titles:

Top Pirates Players of the Teens

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

Babe Adams (32.85) - 81

Forbes Field

Wilbur Cooper (24.79) - 67

Howie Camnitz (10.13) - 40

Team Name:

Al Mamaux (8.72) - 32

Pirates

Frank Miller (9.68) - 28

Claude Hendrix (9.4) - 28

Owners:

Bob Harmon (7.3) - 26

Barney Dreyfuss

Lefty Leifeld (8.85) - 20

Hank Robinson (7.29) - 15

General Managers:

George McQuillan (4.28) - 14

None

Marty O'Toole (3.95) - 11

Hal Carlson (5.62) - 7

Managers:

Fred Clarke (1910-1915)

Catchers:

Nixey Callahan (1916-1917)

George Gibson (8.72) - 28

Honus Wagner (1917)

Walter Schmidt (1.82) - 12

Hugo Bezdek (1917-1919)

First Basemen:

Hall of Famers:

Dots Miller (5.22) - 23

Barney Dreyfuss

Fred Clarke

Second Basemen:

Honus Wagner

Jim Viox (9.62) - 19

Max Carey

George Cutshaw (4.96) - 18

Burleigh Grimes

George Kelly

ShortStop:

Dazzy Vance

Honus Wagner (34.33) - 78

Rookie of the Year:

Third Base:

None

Bobby Byrne (8.87) - 25

MVP

Outfield:

None

Max Carey (28.31) - 96

Chief Wilson (9.01) - 35

Cy Young:

Carson Bigbee (3.28) - 21

None

Bill Hinchman (7.92) - 19

Tommy Leach (2.38) - 18

No Hitters:

Fred Clarke (5.44) - 17

None

Billy Southworth (5.9) - 15

Casey Stengel (2.96) - 9

Notable Events:

1910 - Pittsburg was one of baseball's powers during the first decade of the

twentieth century, finishing first four times and second four times in the league.

1914 -The Pirates finish seventh. Their first season outside of the first

The Bucs were entering the new decade coming off a 110 win season and a world

division since the turn of the century. You could see it coming if you were

title. The Pirates drop a whopping 24 games in 1910 as they score 40 less runs and

a Pittsburgh fan as the club was not bringing up any significant new

give up almost a run more a game, 129. The top three players on the team are

faces. Fred Clarke had a lot on his plate. He was playing, managing,

still performing well, but definitely getting long in the tooth: SS Honus Wagner, 36;

inventing and patenting and running his ranch in addition to helping

OF Fred Clarke, 37; and OF Tommy Leach, 32. There are no stars of their magnitude

owner Dreyfuss run the club. For owner Barney Dreyfuss, it was

on the horizon to replace them. Meanwhile, the pitching nosedives. Thirty three year

a bit of complacency and having sticker shock to pay their players

old twenty two game winner Vic Willis is sold to the Cards, creating a big hole in the

the high price to stay on top in these times of competition with the

rotation. Willis had had run-ins with manager Fred Clarke during the 1909 season.

new Federal League.

Three young pitchers, Howie Camnitz, Lefty Leifeld and Nick Maddox unexpectedly

One thing about the era, a lot of have nots were doing very well.

drop off from a combined 57-22 record to a 29-29 mark. There are no big time

The league's rules (both American and National) were not allowing teams

replacements for them in the offing.

to horde good young players and a lot of young talent was escaping

to clubs all over baseball via restrictions to roster sizes and things like

1910 - Twenty year old future Hall of Fame outfielder Max Carey is brought

the Rule 5 draft. The effects could be seen particularly in the National

up from South Bend.

League where a bunch of teams that never competed were suddenly

winning titles like the Braves, Reds, Phillies and Dodgers. In addition,

1911 - Pittsburg is renamed Pittsburgh

the Federal League's emergence was a great equalizer as the

teams you steal players from are not the cellar dwellers.

1912 - Fred Clarke retires, sort-of, as an active player. At age 38 in 1911, Fred hit

a robust .324. However, he didn't need the money as a player and it was getting a bit

1915 - Fred Clarke, manager of the Bucs since 1900, is relieved

much to multi-task as player and manager. The Bucs had Max Carey and Chief

of his duties as the Pirates stink. Clarke remains a top man in the

Wilson in the outfield and added thirty four year old Turkey Mike Donlin to replace

organization, consulting for owner Dreyfuss. No surprise there.

Clarke in the outfield. Donlin was still an outstanding hitter and would bat .316

Dreyfuss probably figured that Clarke had grown stale in the

for the 1912 Bucs. Clarke would come back for a few at bats in his early forties in

manager job.

1913 - 1915

1917 - The Pirates sink to last place 51-103

1912 - Honus Wagner's last big season at the age of thirty eight

Not coincidentally, the Bucs drop 15 games in the standings in 1913.

1918 - After their embarassing 1917 finish, Dreyfuss and Clarke, who

The beginning of the end.

is now the top man in the front office, make a number of moves to bring

Pittsburgh back up to respectability - and it works as they top .500.

1914- Lefthander Wilbur Cooper, 22, has his first full big league season.

A short term deal that improved them initially, but was really bad in the

He was brought up from Columbus

long run was the trade of twenty three year old righthanders Burleigh

Grimes and Al Mamaux to the Dodgers for George Cutshaw and

Casey Stengel.

The two hurlers would lead the Dodgers to a pennant and Grimes was

to be a Hall of Famer. The Bucs also purchased third baseman

Bill McKechnie from the Reds and ace lefthander Erskine Mayer, 28,

from the Phillies in Philadelphia owner William Baker's firesale.

Lefty Earl Hamilton, 26, was picked up from the Browns and

outfielder Billy Southworth, 25, who had earlier been with Cleveland

was brought up. These were all significant upgrades to what the

Pirates had. It's interesting to note the way Clarke and Dreyfuss

thought about things. When they wanted to right the ship, they

brought in three strong leaders with high baseball IQ's: Southworth,

Stengel and McKechnie, all of whom ended up being big time managers

of the era.

1919 - First Baseman Charlie Grimm, 20, is a rookie He was brought

up from Little Rock